Unlucky Week For Italian Ferries
Several ship casualties took place in Italy, mainly due to the violent storms which battered the country for three consecutive days.
Some passenger ships broke away from the mooring in the ports of La Spezia, Naples, Vado Ligure and Carloforte.
In La Spezia the cruise ship CELEBRITY CONSTELLATION broke moorings and hit COSTA MAGICA.
In Naples and in Vado Ligure the same situation happened respectively to the Tirrenia’s ferry RAFFAELE RUBATTINO and to the CORSICA EXPRESS THREE. All those vessels broke away from the mooring due to the gale-force winds.
Some major damage was reported after the small passenger ship GB CONTE operated by Delcomar struck a pier while mooring in the port of Carloforte, on Sardinia. The collision left a small hole in the hull.
Much more serious was the accident which occurred to the ferry EXCELLENT of Grandi Navi Veloci in the port of Barcelona. During maneuvering the vessel slammed into a gantry crane, which eventually collapsed and created a fire. Luckily nobody was injured.
Grimaldi Group’s ro-pax CRUISE AUSONIA suffered an engine room fire, while en route from Palermo to Livorno, Italy. Fire was extinguished, and the ship was able to go back to Palermo with reduced speed using the only engine still running.
Italian Coast Guard video about the CRUISE AUSONIA